Thread by @WritersofColour

'Since the failure of World Book Night to include any writers of colour in its 2015 list, there has been a fresh bout of conversation about the need for more ‘diversity’ in the literature that is published and awarded in Britain, as well as amongst those working in publishing.

..Alongside a series of Guardian articles, there has been a call for contributions to Nikesh Shukla’s (2016) crowd-funded anthology on race and immigration (in itself a great idea); writers of colour have been invited to come forward, to contact Shukla. #diversedecember,

a twitter initiative set up by bloggers Naomi Frisby and Dan Lipscombe, has been encouraging people to ‘read with diversity’ & share the ‘diverse’ books that they're reading. Many orgs & individuals, readers and writers, are joining in to help bring more ‘diversity’ to publishing

..To whom is all this directed? Who should read more ‘diverse’ literature? For whom is literature written by minority writers ‘diverse’? For whom are minority writers ‘diverse’? Can I describe myself as ‘diverse’ – do I exist in that space called ‘diversity’?

'The concept of diversity only exists if there is an assumed neutral point from which ‘others’ are ‘diverse.’ Putting aside for now the straight, male, middle-classness of that ‘neutral’ space, its dominant aspect is whiteness.

'Constructed by a white establishment, the idea of ‘diversity’ is neo-liberal speak. It is the new corporatized version of multiculturalism. It is about management, efficiency, box-ticking' - @LitMustFall

'. As writers of colour, we parrot this idea back, reminding white institutions that they need to increase their diversity; appealing to them to let us in, to give some of us a seat at the table too.

To help convince them, institutions are reminded that ‘diversity’ is actually good for them too, that it will help them to make more money.

Danuta Keane writes, in the ‘Writing the Future’report on the need for improved cultural/ethnic diversity in literature: ‘this isn’t about making the industry feel good. Monocultures are bad for business….

...within 20 years the UK BAME population will be 25%. If books don’t reflect that, they will become increasingly irrelevant and unprofitable.’

Similarly, Shukla writes in a Guardian article: ‘I wouldn’t be wasting my time if I didn’t feel there was a potential financial reward for investing in BAME writers.’

Meanwhile, a tweet on #diversedecember tells us, through a posted article, that ‘just being around people of different ethnicities may literally make you smarter.’

Although the lack of interest in our work on the part of white publishers is a very real problem, when we respond to and celebrate ‘diversity’, we don’t deeply challenge a white system.

We only appeal to it, try to fit ourselves into it, make ourselves attractive to it to, trying to sell our ‘diversity’. We go to workshops that tell us how, as BAME writers, we can brand ourselves better, package ourselves, make ourselves more marketable;

...to get funding, to find a publisher, to sell books. And in this way, we define ourselves through this system, softening ourselves, performing our identities and ethnicities for it. '

Perhaps there’s little choice when you’re entering the mainstream space as an isolated individual, as a writer or an editor; it’s the only way to get in and survive. We don’t talk about racism, just ‘lack of diversity’.

As Ellen Berry says in the recent article, ‘Diversity is for white people: The big lie behind a well-intended word’, ‘Diversity is how we talk about race when we can’t talk about race.

'It has become a stand-in when open discussion of race is too controversial or — let’s be frank — when white people find the topic of race uncomfortable. Diversity seems polite, positive, hopeful.’ -@LitMustFall

'And it’s just this non-threatening positivity, hopefulness and cheery celebration that we’ve seen in this new phase of ‘diversity in literature’ campaigning, co-curated by the Guardian, drawing on data and recommendations by the recent ‘Spread the Word’ report.

‘#diversedecember is a celebration of books by BAME writers. For December 2015, read with diversity and spread the joy of stories’ is the message on the twitter page for this worthy cause.

‘Diverse December lifts the Christmas spirits,’ writes Jackie Kay in the double-page article in Guardian Review, ‘How do we stop UK publishing being so posh and white?'

Meanwhile, the extraordinary success of Nikesh Shukla’s crowd-funded anthology of essays about race and immigration has left him feeling ‘a mixture of relief and vindication that there is such a fierce appetite for BAME voices out there.’

Such diversity campaigns make it all look so easy. Through one concrete action, or perhaps a list of actions, everyone can help to sort out the problem. You can recommend your favourite ‘diverse’ book on #diversedecember.

Feeling virtuous, you can read a ‘diverse’ book this month; a bit like medicine, reading a diverse book is good for you, it opens up your mind, teaches you about another culture/country. ‘Today, we’d really like to receive recommendations of books by Muslim authors, please!’

#diversedecember tweeted on the 9th December. ‘Also don’t neglect your genre fiction in #diversedecember – crime novels especially are an amazing way of reading about non-Western life,’ says one retweet.

Or you can contribute money to the proposed collection of essays on ‘race and immigration’ (avoiding the word ‘racism’). ‘I think this will be an important, timely read. Help fund The Good Immigrant (I’ve donated at link below)’ tweets JK Rowling.

(How can race, racism or immigration be timely, you wonder, ‘flavour of the month’?) -
Read the seminal 2015 article Decolinse Not Diversify by @LitMustFall here mediadiversified.org/2015/12/30/is-…
New article comimg soon on the future around Clancy coming soon!

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